Alchemists in the City of the Dead
by X Piastol X
Summary: Edward and Alphonse got a report form the colonel saying that they have to go to Racoon city. They meet a cop named Leon Kennedy. Bad stuff occur as they explore the city... Resident Evil and Full Metal Alchemist crossover...
1. Chapter 1: The Dead City

"Al... Why did the colonel have to send us to this Racoon City?" Ed asked, crossing his arms. "It sounds like a zoo name."

"I don't know. Maybe because he didn't tell us why we are here. Remember?"

"Oh... Well, I read the paper and it doesn't say why we are here or what is even going on in this city. Maybe this is a blind mission."

"Possibly," Al said. The two Elrics walked side by side down the rode that led to a large, dark city. They thought it was going to be highly populated with regular people and stuff, but they were wrong. When they entered the city it didn't take them long to realize that something wasn't right. Everything seemed abandoned and silent. Too silent. Blood and papers covered sections of the streets and sidewalks. Building were on fire while fire hidrents were pouring out of the side with water. Cars were smashed against either one another or against buildings. Some even overlapped others. Pieces of shattered windows lay scattered on the streets and sidewalks.  
The two brother's eyes widened as they saw a courpse lie on the ground. Bite marks rested on the arms, revieling blood. The neck of the man was ripped open with blood gushing out of it.  
As they walked slowly around the ghost town they noticed more damages and courpse. One of the courpse lay still on the first step of a passenger bus. The bus had appeared to be in better condition than the rest of the vehicles in the city. The only damages were blood stains resting on the each sides of the bus and on the windows. Also, a few windows have been shattered from the inside. One of the windows looked like someone jumped or threw something out of it, due to the fact that no glass remained. Another window looked like it was struggled open. The window right next to it had a large, bloody foot print on it. In fact, the print looked like it had been recent.  
The two brothers approached the bus in caution. They were careful not to slip in any puddles of blood. When they made their way to the steps of the bus they brushed the body off of it with their feet. The courpse they found on the step was in way worse condition than the one they saw before. It appeared that his arms were bitten off by who knows what. His right foot appeared to be twisted all the way around with his large toe dismembered. His other leg had pieces of glass from the bus door sticking out. What scared the brothers the most was that the man's eyes were pecked out by some sort of bird. A small stream of blood used to drip from them, leaving lines of blood on his cheek.  
Ed swallowed hard and stepped on the first step of the bus.

"Let's go investigate a bit, Al," he said before taking a few more steps. "We might find some survivors or something."Al nodded unsurley and followed closely, making faint clanking sounds with his armor. He couldn't help it because he was trapped in the armor.  
To Ed's surprise he noticed that it didn't smell as bad in here than out in the streets. The brothers gasped in horror as they saw several bodies on the floor and seats. Blood nearly covered the whole inside of the bus. Everyone inside were dead from either head injuries from struggle, or the fact that they were eaten like a feast.

"Their deaths were recent, I can definetly tell," Ed said sharply.

"How do you know for sure?" Al asked.

"If you could smell then you would know."

"What does smelling have to do with anything?" Al asked again with curiosity. Ed smacked his forehead and sighed.

"You know how people smell really bad after a week or more after they die? Well, these people don't smell, so they must have died either today or even yesterday," Ed explained, stepping over a dead body."Either way their deaths were recent."Al gave a nod and brushed a fly of of his metal arm. He looked at the dead bodies as he passed them. They each had bite marks planted somewhere on their body. Suddenly he stopped and examined the bite. Ed stopped as well in turned around to examine his younger brother's curiostiy.

"Al, what is it?" He asked, somewhat of fear in his voice. The two brothers were almost at the back of the bus, about 6 seats away from the rear, 3 on each side.

"Brother, look at the bite marks on another persons body," Al instructed. Ed noticed the fear in his voice and gulped. Something definetly was bothering Al. He bent down toward the body he stepped over thirty or so seconds agoand examined the bites. He wasn't catching on to Al's thoughts and stood back up.

"We already know how they died, Al," Ed started. "But we want to know who... or _what_ did this."

"That's what I am trying to get to," Al said with fear and impatience in his voice. He wanted to blurt out to Ed what he knew, but also wanted Ed to catch on himself. Al decided to look carefully at the bite marks to see if he was orwasn't mistaken, and, to no surprise, he wasn't mistaken.

"Brother, look verry carefully at the bite marks and tell me what you think might have done it," he said, looking at the marks again. Ed sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance and decided to look again. Kneeling down he examined the marks... and gasped. The whos or whats wasn't by a what, but a who... A human being.

"Al... Why would a human do this to another?" He asked in a whisper of fear. At first Al was too affraid to respond, but he thought of a quick theory.

"Maybe they are canibals," he said.

"It seems too simple, Al," Ed replied, trying to sound brave. "I don't think canibals would to this to an entire city. Besides, those things live alone in forests or woods or something." Standing back up, Ed made his way to the back of the bus. The very back window has scratch marks on it.To his surprise there was no blood on the very last seat., except for the blood that drips from the ceiling. Items such as torn purses and bags, cell phones, make up, and papers lay scattered on the floor and seats. Everything in the bus seemed to be lifeless and silent. The only sound to be heard was Al's faint armor clicking as he followed his brother... And the sound of moaning? At first they both didn't know where the dreadful moaning was coming from or who was making, but then they saw something shift in the front of the bus. A lady in a torn, white dress with small pink flowers specked on it and long, curly blonde hair slowly stood up. She limped her way to Ed and Al, starting at the side of seat number six. At first Ed thought she was a surviver and started making his way toward her. Al just took a cautious two steps and remained standing.

"M'am, are you ok?" Ed asked softly, stopping 11 feet away from her. The woman didn't reply. She didn't look up, either, as though she was intentionally not wanting to show her face.

"Look, everything will be-" Ed caught off his own sentence and stared at her, examining her wounds. "Something isn't right... She can't be alive... It's... It's impossible." There was hesitation and faint fear in his voice as he took a step backwards. He almost stumbled over a headless, dead body. The two brothers noticed that the woman lost too much blood from struggle, biting, and glass from windows or other objects.  
The woman reached a shakey and bloody hand out to Ed, but continued limping in his direction. Her reach was about 4 feet away now. Ed gasped as he noticed that she was missing several fingers. The woman let out another dreadful moan and finally looked up. Ed tried to let out a scream, but nothing came out but a small choke. His eyes widened in horror as he saw a huge chunk of her face and neck missing. Al let out a small squeal as she neared Ed. She was finally able to touch Ed's shoulder, causing Ed to jump backwards like a frightened dog. When the woman approached them, again, she started to limp a little faster, making a noise that wasn't a moaning sound, but sounded like a phantom growl, or even a vampire's hiss. Again, she grabbed Ed's shoulder and pulled herself toward him, attempting to bite his neck. Ed let out a scream of sudden horror and tried pushing her away. The woman kept hissing and growling as she continued trying to bite any part of Ed.

"Al! Get her off of me!" He yelled. Al didn't hesitate. At first he tried to push her away, but, for some reason, her grip was too strong. Then he started beating on her head and arms until she finally let go. Ed backed away, stumbling into his younger, but yet taller, brother. He thought he was going to pass out from all this horror. He never encountered such death in one city. He now started wishing that this was all just a dream... A bad dream.  
The woman stumbled into another seat and fell. She let out a faint hiss and stood back up. Ed looked into the seats aside of him, trying to find a weapon. To his surprise he found a hand gun with lots of ammunition. In a sepreate bag he found shotgun shells and hand gun bullets. He hoped to find a shotgun to give to Al, and, to his luck, he did. He tossed the gun to Al and turned around to face the crazed woman.

"Where should I aim for?" Ed asked. "I need a spot that will take her out in one hit. Heart or head?"

"Uhh... Ummm... The heart," Al replied. Ed gave a quick nodded and pulled the trigger. They both jumped to the loud bang of the gun. The woman stumbled backwards from the impact, but she remained living!

"Damn! I am aiming for the head!" Ed yelled, shooting again. This time the woman stumbled backwards and fell. The two brothers waited for signs of movement. Nothing. The woman didn't even twitch. Blood poured out of the wound in her head. The two brothers sighed in relief and sat in the very back seat. They had to calm the fear away before proceeding their mission.

"Al... There might be more pshycos, so be alert at all times," Ed warned. "If you see someone moving or doing something out of the ordinary then don't hesitate to shoot them."

"Ok, brother," Al replied, standing up. He couldn't exactly promise because he wasn't the type that liked to kill others.

"We had better get off this bus before anyone else decides to attack," Al said, starting to walk down the aisle. Ed rested for a few more seconds and started to stand up. No sooner than he did there was a crash from behind. Many arms were tugging on Ed, trying to pull him throught the back window. Al spun around and saw his brother stuggling for his life. Ed tried to scream his brother's name, but those things had a tough grip around his neck. All that came out was a choking noise.

"Brother!" Al screamed, dashing back down the aisle. "Get off of him! Get off!" Al continuesly beat their arms until there were very few of them with a grip on Ed. Ed's face started to turn a redish color from the choking. Finally, those things gave up and released the older Elric. Ed started coughing and gasping for air. His face color eventually started to go back to normal. Turning to Al he forced a thanking smile.

"Let's go, Al," He said, grabbing his gun. As they made their way down the aisle Al noticed scratches on Ed's neck.

"Brother, your neck... It's all scratched up," Al pointed out.

"They are just scratches... Nothing big," Ed reassured. He touched the small wounds on his neck and flinched. They stung rather badly for just scratches. As they made their way off the bus they noticed moaning in the distance, but it was soon cut off by a few gun shots that came from the far left of them.

"Brother, look!" Al said, pointing behind a police car. As he pointed they both heard a few more gun shots coming their way.

"Aaagh!" Ed yelped, quickly ducking.

"Yikes!" Al yelped, also ducking. "Brother, what are we going to do? I didn't know that these things could fire guns!"

"Me neither, Al, but I don't think he is one of those pshycos," he replied, dodging another gun shot. "His aim was too cordinated."One of the shots rebounded off Al's armor and hit an unknown 'thing' from the left. They both gasped as the body collapsed on Ed's back.

"AAAAHH!" Ed screamed, jumping up. He ran about 10 feet down the street and ducked behind another car. Unfortunatley Ed didn't know that there was one of those things in there. The 'thing' reached its arms out the window and wrapped them around Ed's neck and tried to yank him through the window. He tried to scream, but all that came out was a squeak and cough. The only thing he could do nowwas flail and hope that Al would come to his senses and help him.

_"Damnit!" _He thought. _"I wish I never freaked out! Forgive me Al..."_ As he thought that he was completley done for he heard a gun shot, and noticed that the 'thing' releasd his neck. Again, he started gasping for air.

"Thanks, Al," he said before realizing it wasn't him. A man in his twentys knelt down near the frightened teen. He had a hansom but serious look on his face. He had very darkeyes that seemed brown inthe light.His hair was brown and neat with a little bit of blonde in it. His bangs were parted down to his ears and the hair in the back reached a few inches past his neck. There was a strap around his shoulder, which was to carry his advanced handgun. He looked kind of muscular and strong, but yet gentle. He wore a leather-like shirt which had sleeves that reached 3 inches above his elbows. He wore a black belt which contained a light on the front ofit around his baggy, leather pants. He wore black, leather gloves which reached down to his wrists, and was cut around an inch past each finger. He appeared to have no scratches or wounds on his body. Just blood from others that he killed.

"Are you ok, kid?" He asked caringly.

"Sure. Being shot at was a hell of a time," Ed replied sarcastically. The man let out a quick sigh.

"I wan't aiming for you," he started. "I thought that metal thing was trying to kill you." Ed glared at him for a short moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by another voice behind the man.

"Brother!" Al called out. The man immidiatley spun around in caution.

"Stay back!" He yelled, raising his gun. Al immidiatley stopped and put his hands in the air. He noticed that he still had the shotgun in his hands and quickly and carelessly dropped it.

"Don't shoot him!" Ed yelled running in front of Al. "He's my younger brother!"

"_Brother?_" The man repeated, raising a brow.

"It's true, sir," Al spoke, picking the gun back up. At first the man didn't belive Al, but then examined the serious expression on Ed's face.

"What are your names?" He asked.

"I'm Edward Elric, and this is Alphonse Elric," Ed introduced. "You could just call us Ed and Al."

"Alright then," he agreed. "My name is Leon Kennedy. You boys better stick with me if you want to get out of here alive." The two brothers nodded and stood up, follow by Leon. He took two steps forward, but stopped.

"How old are?" Leon asked.

"I'm 16, and Al is 14," Ed replied.

"_16? _You look way younger than that."

"What!" Ed yelled. His face turned red in anger as he started clenching his hands in tight fists. Before he could lunge at Leon Al ran up behind him and held him back.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SMALL, HALF-PINT, QUARTER-CUP, CHIBI MIDGET?" Ed yelled. "AM I TOO SHORT TO TAKE ON THOSE PSHYCOS? HUH? AM I! **AM I?**"

"Brother, calm down," Al said. "Leon didn't know. We just met him two minutes ago." Ed started to settle down as Al released back to the ground.

"Sorry for offending," Leon apologized. He was about to tell them where they had to go, but examined something on Ed's body.

"Ed, I couldn't help notice those scratches on your neck," He said.

"It's nothing. I-" His sentence was cut off.

"How did you get them," Leon demanded.

"Leon, it's nothing-"

"How did you get them.." Leon's voice started rise and become more serious, if it was possible. His voice couldn't have seemed any more serious from before.

"Those things scratched me back at the bus," Ed explained. "They tried pulling me through the back window." Al noticed the sudden emotion on Leon's face. It looked sad and worried rather than serious and encouraging. His face started to turn a little bit pale. Giving a small sigh, he shook his head in disappointment.

"What's wrong, Leon sir?" Al asked politley, yet frightened.

"Do you two know how most of these residents came to be like these things?" Leon asked.

"That's what we are trying to figure out now," Ed replied in a quiet voice.

"Some of these citizens were infected with something called the T-Virus. It causes genetic mutations and..." Leon paused for a moment.

"It..Umm... Regular people just turn into those things, right?" Ed finished.

"Not only that," Leon continued. "It brings.. The dead... back to life." Edward's eyes widened in horror.

"That's impossible," he whispered to himself. "Is there a cure for these people?" At first Leon was silent and still. Then he slowly and sadly shook his head. Ed frowned and looked at the growned. If Al wasn't encased in the amor he would have frowned also.

"Leon sir, you said that only _some_ of the citizens were infected with the virus. What happened to the others?" Al asked. "How did _they_ turn out to be?"

"The infected who bite into regular flesh transfer the virus to them... And within a matter of hours they become one of them."

"So you're saying that I'm fine since I am not bitten?" Ed asked, somewhat of joy in his voice. Leon looked at Edward's golden eyes directly. He didn't know what to tell him, or _how _to tell him. It would take him a lot of courage to reveal the truth.

"Sir?" Al said, resting a hand on his shoulder. He jumped a little bit to the sudden contact.

"I'm sorry, Ed, but so much as a single scratch will transfer the virus," Leon finally said. Ed's eyes widened a little bit. But then narrowed them and stared back at the ground.

"You mean... Brother will become one of... them?" Al managed to say. Leon was about to speak, but noticed a few tears starting to run down Ed's face. Al noticed to and knelt down to comfort him.

"Ed, there is a cure," Leon said, kneeling down, too.

"Don't be crazy. You just said there was no cure."

"Not exactly. I said there was no cure for those who are _already _one of them," Leon explained. "I didn't say there wasn't a cure for those who are scratched or bitten." Ed's face lit up again. Al helped them both up and glanced around to see if anyone... or _anything_ was coming. Al gasped at the sudden ammount of 'things' that were coming their way. Luckily they were more than 100 feet away. He was about to warn Leon, but Ed spoke first.

"Where can we get this cure and how much time do I have left?" He asked, reajusting his red jacket.

"Since you only have scratches instead of bites then you have about 2 hours to get the G-Virus," Leon explained. "The cure should be at the police station in my old office. That's where I left it last."

"Leon sir, look," Al said, pointing down the street. Several 'things' limped their way up the street. Some even crawled from dismembered legs.

"How do we get there now if they are blocking our way?" Al asked. "And I doubt we can shoot them all."

"We arn't going that way," Leon corrected. "We have to walk 3 blocks to get there." The brothers nodded and followed Leon. They were careful not to stain their shoes with blood or puncture them with glass.  
As they turned the corned of the second block they were surprised to see the number of zombie-like people roaming the streets and sidewalks.

"What do we do now?" Al asked in a panic.

"Shoot them in the head!" Leon yelled, quickly pulling out his gun. Ed and Al pulled out their guns, too, and started shooting. Al did very little shooting because he didn't enjoy killing others. Many of the bullets Ed fired didn't hit them in the head, but in the shoulder or the upper part of their chest.

"Skrew it!" Ed yelled, running forward. He stopped about 8 feet and front of them.

"Ed! What the hell are you doing?" Leon called to him, shooting one as it approached Ed.

"Equivilant Exchange, bitches!" Ed yelled, clapping his hands together. He quickly placed them on the ground, allowing a quick flash of blue appear. Large spikes appeared from under the walking dead's feet. Leon stared in awe as dozens of them collapsed. Again, Ed clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground. The thorns withdrew back into the ground, tripping some of the walking dead.

"Let's go, guys!" Ed called back to the other. He pulled out his hand gun again and shot one as it approached. Running on the side walk, Ed gestured for the others to follow again. One tried to grab Ed's shoulder, but was immidiatley shot and killed by Al. Ed allowed Leon to run ahead and lead the way. Al was in the back of them to make sure none of the 'things' scratch or bite his brother. He didn't have to worry about Leon because he noticed that he was a skilled cop or something.

"We're here!" Leon announed, dashing up the steps. He quickly opened the two heavy doors and allowed Edward and Alphonse to enter first. Before following them he shot a guy from behind. The guy flew back down the steps and landed on another zombie person. He quickly rushed inside and slammed the doors shut.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Ed complimented.

"I know," Leon said. "Let's quickly head into my office and get the G-Virus." Before Ed could ask where his office was they heard a pitter-patter of foot steps. They were sure who or what was making the sound, but they started to get very cautious.

"Stay away from any doors or windows," Leon warned. "Stand back to back in a triangle and ready your guns."

"Alright," Ed said, taking out his gun. The pitter-patter stopped for a few seconds, but continued even faster. Suddenly they heard a snarl from behind the corner of a hallway. About 4 dogs turned the corner, growling viciously in an intimidating way. Al was about to walk over to help and comfort it, but realized something awkward about them. Their eyes were red and dark. Their teeth were sharp and stained with blood from the meals. Their growls didn't sound like a regular dogs growl. It sounded more vicious, like a wolf. The scariest part about it was it's skin... Or what used to be. It looked as though the dogs were skinned alive by somone... or something. Bite marks that weren't human rested on their bodies. What ever feasted on them beforewas vicious big... Very big. The 3 males were surprised that the T-Virus could even reserect them in that condition.  
Suddenly the dog in the front took off at speed that was greater than any other dog, practically faster than a wolf! The other dogs followed the 'leader of the group', giving a nasty snarl as they ran.

"Shoot them!" Leon commanded, shooting at the dogs. Since their was no fir or hardley any skin it was easy to kill, if they aimed in the right places. Leon shot the front legs of them, since he had trouble aiming for the bobbing head. One of the dogs started picking up it's speed and lunged at Leon. Luckily Al jumped in the way before it could hit him. He grabbed the dog by the neck and punched it in the face. Blood poured everywhere on Al.  
The other two dogs lunged at Ed, who quickly transmuted a stone barrier. Unfortunatley he was stupid and forgot to make it wide enough. The dogs just ran around the side and lunged at Ed. Ed let out a scream of pain as the dog bit his left arm.

"BROTHER!" Al yelled, rushing to help his brother. The dog took another bite at Ed's side before Al yanked them both off. The dogs yelped and barked uncontrollably as Al bashed them against the stone barrier repeatedly. The dogs died after a few more bashings.  
The dog with no front legs was shot in the head by Leon, who was now rushing over to help Ed.

"Ed, are you ok?" Leon asked worridly.

"I... I'm going to die, arn't I?" he replied weakly. It wasn't exactly the best comforting answer to give.

"Brother, don't say that!" Al said strongly. "We've been in bad situations before and-"

"Al, don't be silly," Ed interupted. "Look at me. I'm losing way too much blood and my body is infected from these pshycos."

"We arn't too late, Edward," Leon said, hoisting the injured blonde on his back. "Let's hurry down to my office and get that cure. Al, I have something important for you to do."

"What is it Leon sir?" Al asked.

"First of all I like how you are polite and call me sir, but please call me Leon," he said with a chuckle. "Second you have to watch my back. I have to carry Ed and I don't think I can protect us at the same time. Think you can handle it?" Al gulped a little bit but gave an 'ahuh'.  
Leon led them down a different hallway from where they encountered the dogs. Luckily Al only had to kill a few of those things. As they turned a corner that seemed to lead to a door to Leon's office, they noticed a shattered window with the pieces of glass scattered everywhere on the ground.

"Yikes," Leon said, continuing his way down the hall. When they finally arrived at the door they heard heavy breathing from ahead. Leon didn't hesitate to open the door because he didn't want to find out who was making the noise. Al followed directly behind him and quickly shut it.

"Should I block off the door?" He asked.

"With what?"

"I can do alchemy like brother," Al said, pulling out a piece of chalk. He began to draw something on the ground. It looked like a circle with a few more circle inside it and a face up triangle which covered the inside. There were a few more triangles that stuck outside of the circle. Al placed his hands on the circle as it glowed a blue, just like when Ed fought the dogs back at the entrance. Giant vines blocked the door way. As he finished watching Al doing alchemy he rested Ed on a chair to the left of him. Suddenly Al pulled his gun out and aimed it at Leon. Leon's eyes widened in shock.

"Don't move," Al warned. A few seconds later Al pulled the trigger. Leon shut his eyes tightly, but noticed that he didn't feel anything. No pain. No bullet. Nothing but fear and shock.  
When Leon opened his eyes he noticed Al was walking toward him. He quickly took out his gun and aimed it at Al's metal head.

"Relax, Leon," Al said calmly. "I was only shooting one of them." Leon looked down and saw a dead person sprawled out on the ground, blood rushing out of the wound on his head. Leon noticed a gun in his hand and bullets in his pocket. He knelt down and took out the ammunition and loaded the gun. He handed the gun to Al.

"Think you can carry this in your armor?" He asked, handing him the gun.

"Uhh, sure," Al replied taking the gun.

"The G-Virus should be in the bag beside my desk," Leon said, walking over to his desk. He realized how messy it was ever since he left to find survivors. Papers lay unorganized and scattered everywhere on the desk and floors. There was blood on the walls and floor. A few chairs were toppled over, one was missing a leg. A few paintings on the wall remained in fine condition while others were torn and smudged with blood. Books were torn and scattered on the ground while others were neatly piled on his desked. A few pictures of employes remained on his desk. Others appeared missing for some strange reason. The trash can aside of his desk was toppled over, leaving balls of paper lay freely one the blue, blood stained carpet.  
When Leon rummaged through the bag he found 14 green, needle tubes of the G-Virus. He injected three in Ed's neck, one on his left arm, and one on the side where he got bitten by the dogs. Ed flinched a little bit, but remained calm.

"I truly hope this works," Leon said. "All we can do now is pray."

"Brother and I don't believe in that kind of stuff," Al said, rubbing the back of his metal head. Leon gave a small laugh and sat down on the bench.

"I'm not sure if there is a resting spot for you, Al," Leon said, glancing around the room. "Maybe you can sleep on this bench. I will keep guard."

"Oh, no. That won't be necessary," Al said before Leon stood up. "You see, I don't sleep. This armor prevents me from doing a lot of stuff."

"Well you better tell me what you can and can't do," Leon said.

"Well first of all, I can't sleep, eat, drink, cry, smell, taste, feel physical pain, die, and most of all I can show emotion in my face."

"Sucker," Ed whispered, quietly laughing to himself. Al and Leon pretended not to hear him.

"So you can't die?" Leon asked.

"Well, kinda," Al replied. "You can fire bullets at me, stab me, and dent me, but I still won't die. Then only thing that will kill me is this." At that point Al took off his metal helmet and turned it so that the face of it would face himself. Leon noticed something on the back of the helmet. It was a red circle with a wierd symbol in it.

"This is called a blood seal," Al continued, pointing to the marking. "It encases my soul in this suit of armor. If you put a hole in it or smudge it badly then I will die. Someday brother and I will find a stone called the Philosiphers Stone and restore my body and his missing limbs." Leon nodded and rested down on the bench.

"So are you going to stand guard tonight?" He asked.

"Ahuh," Al replied, leaning against the wall. Al was wandering if Leon had a family at all. Before he could ask the question he heard a slight snore coming from Leon.

"I will ask in the morning," Al whispered to himself. He took his gun out of his metal chest and loaded it, just incase someone... Or someone ambushes them. Al knew this was going to be a long, frightening night.

-

-

Next chapter will be coming soon. Submit reviews and tell me if you enjoyed the story... Or... Maybe... Not...


	2. Chapter 2: The Licker

Al remind in the same position for an a few hours. Every now and then he would glance at the window close to the door to see if there were any 'zombies' approaching. Sometimes he would see his own shadow, which would cause him to jump a bit.

'_I need to stay calm,_' Al thought. '_For my brothers sake..._' Suddenly he heard a coughing noise. His eyes wandered franitcally around the room before pulling his gun out. Soon he realized that the coughing was coming from Ed.

"Brother, are you ok?" He asked. Al rushed over to check on him.

"I think... _Ga-hack!_" Now he was coughing up blood. So he wouldn't stain the couch (Like it even mattered) Ed turn his body and head so he spewed on the floor. After ten seconds or so he finally stopped. A puddle of blood rested on the ground.

"Oh! I hope this is a good sign," Al said, rubbing his brothers back. Suddenly he saw a figure approach them. The two brothers jumped a bit, but soon realized that it was only Leon.

"Jumpy?" He grinned. "Is everything o-" Leon turned and saw the puddle of blood. His eyes widened to the sight of it.

"What happened?" He asked, faster than he usually talks. "What's with this blood?"

"I woke up to a sick stomach and started coughing," Ed started. "All of a sudden I started spewing blood."

"Oh boy... I'm not so sure this is working," Leon said. "Maybe there is another cure we can get. I think Ed still has an hour or so." Ed quickly stood up and headed for the door. Leon gave him a weird look. He expected Ed to be a lot weaker than that.

"Well we better hurry. I am honestly not in the mood for dying right now." Before he turned the doorknob there was a loud banging on the door. The young alchemist stumbled backwards into Leon, but kept his balance so he didn't fall.

Al pulled out the guns and handed one to Leon and Ed. "What can possibly-" His sentence was cut off. Suddenly the door flew off into the room and knocked into Ed, causing him to go flying across the room and knocking off some of the books that rested on Leon's desk. In front of them was a large muted, tannish-pinkish frog about the size of a wolf. It had no eyes, but could hear very well. It's teeth were sharp and missplaced, and a long tongue slithered in and out of its mouth, making an airy hiss. It stood on all four and had razor sharp claws that was covered in blood from recent kills. As it consumes blood it becomes a stronger, faster hunter. It was known as the Licker. It was muted from the T-Virus in an accident.  
It lunged for the closest person: Leon. Leon quickly put two bullets in its head and dodged the beast. Al rushed up to it and started punching it and slamming it against the walls. It made horrible screeches of pain that sounded like nails on a chalk board.

"How's brother, Leon?" Al asked, quickly glancing behind him.

"Still alive and barley concious," Leon replied, shooting, again, at the Licker. It wasn't giving it yet. It extended its tongue out toward Al's armor, piercing right through him. Al let out a frightened gasp and stood there, frozen from the attack.  
Ed's eyes widened in horror. "Al! Al! Did it hit your blood seal?"  
THUD! Al collapsed to the floor, landing a few feet away from the mutated beast.

"**AL!**" Ed screamed, feeling tears run down his face. "**DAMN YOU, AL! You just had to keep on worrying about me, didn't you! DIDN'T YOU!**"

"_Saaaaaaaa!_" The Licker hissed, leaping toward the angered blonde. Leon quickly shot it 5 times; twic in the head and 3 times in its throat. It let out a hiss of pain and collapsed. Leon did a kick check to see if it was alive or not. It was dead. A puddle of blood poured out from its body.  
Walking over to Al, Leon lifted his helmet to see if one of his blood seals was still there. It was. He checked inside. When he did he felt Alphonse start shifting.

"Brother, i'm still alive," he said, walking over to Ed, who was still sobbing. Ed looked up and gave a slight smile, but quickly gritted his teeth in anger.

"Damn it, Al! Why did you play dead like that!" He demanded, punching a dent into his brother's metal arm.

"I wasn't! The attack skrewed my armor up and I had trouble moving!" He replied, about to return a gentler punch. He realized that his brother was in no condition for any more wounds.

"We should probably get moving along, guys," Leon said. "There are a lot more of those things, and worse."  
The three boys left the old office with a few ammuntion they found hidden on the shelves. Before Leon left he took one last glance at his office and closed the door.

* * *

Sorry! This chapter is kinda short. Next update: Who flippin' knows.


	3. Chapter 3: Bad Luck

It's... About... TIME!!! I thought I would never update! XD

Hehe. Yeah... I got a few messages from people that begged me to update. Well... Here you go!

* * *

They tried to keep as quiet as possible to make sure that they could hear on footsteps or strange noises. Occasionally, they would run into one of the zombies, but most of the time the zombies popped out on _them_. Luckily, Leon's quick reaction kept Ed from becoming anymore injured. 

"How are you holding up there, Ed?" Leon asked for the 6th time.

"Pretty bad. I feel sick and exhausted," he groaned, gripping his stomach. His face contorted in disgust and pain. A little sweat made his body shake and sickly pale. " Leon, I really don't think the G-Virus is working. What do you think?" Ed stopped and waited for an answer. His body shook more, but this time in fear of the thought of failure.  
Leon turned around and studied the expression on his face. He didn't want to frighten him, but at the same time, didn't want to raise false hopes up.

"I don't think it is either, Ed," he frowned. "But we can't be too sure. I never witnessed a recover, just studied it in research papers."

"Brother, I'll carry," Al offered. "You can't use too much of your energy." He grabbed for Ed's arm, but the stubborn alchemist just slapped his arm away.

"Al, no. I don't need to be carried li- Ooooh... My head," he groaned in pain. He gripped at his forehead as if trying to stop the pain from spreading through him. Gritting his teeth, he looked down at the floor. Suddenly, his legs gave in and he fell to his knees.

"I... I can't move," he whispered to himself. "I can't do this. It's unbearable." He started shaking even more, feeling almost ridiculous for acting so worthless.  
Leon and Al looked down at him. They knew that if they tried to help him up he would only decline.

"Ed, we have to keep moving," Leon started. "If we stop right here, those things will find and kill us. Stop being stubborn and let your brother carry you until you feel better." With that, he grabbed Ed's metal arm and tugged him to his feet. Before Ed could protest, Al quickly piggy-backed him.

"Grr... I feel so ridiculous," Ed moaned.

"It's better than kneeling on the ground feeling helpless and defeated. Just relax and I'll let you down when you think you have the energy to walk, ok brother?"  
Silence. There was no response from Ed. Leon peered into his face and noticed that he immediately passed out when Al picked him up.

"I don't know if that's a good or bad thing," Leon said. He pulled out a hand gun and loaded it with bullets. "But we have to keep heavy attention on him."

"Mr. Kennedy, you just keep watch out for yourself," Al said. "I'll look out for my brother. Besides, you ca-" His sentence was cut off.

"That's not exactly what I meant," Leon said. "He can turn into a zombie at any time and I can't afford to be bitten." Al gasped in fear and shock. His worries for his brother thrashed at him, making him feel almost off-balance. Leon's words buzzed in his thoughts, unable to shake off the feeling he had.

_'Brother... If you turn into one of them, Leon will have to kill you,'_ Al thought. _'But how will I tell Winry? How will we get the stone?...'_

* * *

Leon and Al have been walking around the building for about 30 minutes, opening unknown doors where they encountered dogs and zombies. They somehow didn't run into a Licker, almost as though the beasts were waiting for a certain moment to attack.  
Some rooms required keys and codes, which they found in dangerous places. Sometimes they even had to find weird objects to activate certain devices. 

"Al, check in that cabinet for the key," Leon instructed. Al nodded and pulled the handle of the cabinet, but it wouldn't budge. He pulled even harder, but it still wouldn't open. Turning around, he looked at Leon, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Umm... I think it's stuck," Al shyly said. He rubbed the back of his helmet and giggled. Grinning, Leon walked over to Al and playfully slapped him on the arm.

"I thought a large suit of armor could pull a dinky cabinet door open with ease," he joked. He then walked towards the cabinet and gave it a few knocks. He cocked an eyebrow at the sound it made. Knocking a few more times, he listened carefully to the sound it made. Again, he made a face and removed is fist from the door.

"Strange," he said, turning towards Al. "Something inside here is jamming the door. Listen." Al walked towards the door and listened carefully as Leon knocked a few times.

"It doesn't make a hollow noise," he said. Suddenly, the cabinet started rocking, causing Leon and Al to jump back. Leon, who readied his gun, stared hard at the cabinet. Neither of them was sure what was inside of it. They assumed at first that it was a just a zombie, but then realized it was making growling noises. It almost sounded like a hiss, but still had a shuddering screech in its cry.

" Leon, I think it's a licker," Al whispered. He backed away from the door, for if it were to attack it would immediately go for human flesh.  
Suddenly, a butcher axe was slightly jammed through the door. Both Leon and Al were able to see it stick out. The blade of it was covered in dried, dark blood. Leon felt his spine tingle at the sight of this.

"I thought you said they were too dumb to handle weapons!" Al exclaimed in fear.

"From what I read, their intelligence is very low. Maybe this one is just... I don't know. Retarded?" Leon replied, feeling Al glare at his mean joke. Suddenly, the butcher axe hacked at the door 4 times in a row. It then stopped, as though toying with the two guys. Leon and Al both glanced at each other, both thinking 'what the hell is in there?'.  
As they turned their heads back towards the cabinet, the door was kicked open and sent hurdling towards Leon. Luckily, Leon saw it coming and was able to rebound it back with a kick. The door shattered into pieces, causing dust to fill the room.  
It was hard for them to see clearly, but the were able to make out the figures in the room. Leon aimed his gun at whatever was in the cabinet. Although he didn't fire his gun yet, he waited for the unknown figure to make any sudden movements towards them.

"Alphonse, set Edward down on the bench behind you and cover him," Leon instructed, making a quick glance back. Al did as he was told and kept his brother safe.

"WAHAHAHAHA!!" The figured suddenly laughed. Leon gave a weird look and slowly lowered his gun.

"Wait... Are you _human?_" Leon asked.

"Well... Um. Not really_ human_, "The figured replied, stopping out front the shadows of the cabinet. "I'm more of..." As the dust completely cleared, the figure turned and looked at Alphonse.

"GASP! Alphonse?! Alphonse _Elric_?" The figure gasped in shock. Al looked up at the figure and gasped at the sight of him.

"Barry the Chopper?!" Everything then went silent. Even Leon stood dumbfounded at the encounter.

"Well... This is a hell of a shock," Barry said, rubbing the back of his metal head. "Where's your older bro at?" Al stood up and revealed his injured brother. Gently picking him up, Al set him carefully on his back.

"Oooow... What happened? Did those things get to him?" he asked.

"Yes. We gave him an antidote that is supposed to cure him, but it doesn't seem to be working," Al replied, looking down at the floor.

"So he's going to die then?"

"Well, sort of," Leon chimed in. "He's supposed to die for a short time, but then come back as one of those... zombies. Worst part his, he won't exactly have memory off anyone. So it's going to-"

" Leon, please! Stop talking about this!" Al exclaimed, yet in a sad voice. "I just know that-" Suddenly, he noticed Ed's hand twitch a little.

"Look! Look! He's reviving!" Barry exclaimed in shock. Al set his brother back on the bench to gain full conscience. Leon and Barry paced towards the two Elrics.  
Ed's hand twitched a few more times, but then stopped. The three guys waited for another sudden movement, but it didn't happen. Al let out a sigh of despair and sat next to his brother.

"I guess it's going to take a little more time," Al said, looking down at his feet.

"Don't worry, Al," Barry said. "He'll be fine... And if not, I'll kill him when he turns into a zombie, ok?" Barry started giggling a little, but then felt a hard shove behind him.

"That's not helping at all," Leon growled. "So... Why are you here?"

"Well," Barry started. "People from Ed's town just weren't too friendly with me, and it's too crowded to kill anyone. So I went to Raccoon City, which I heard the population was heavily decreasing, but I didn't expect anything like this."

"Why were you hiding in the cabinet over there?" Leon asked, pointed towards the broken cabinet.

"It's the best place to hide at. Everywhere else was zombie infected."

"So, I see you're the same killer as always," Al said, still looking at his feet.

"Well, sort of. You see, I- GASP! Look! Edward!!" Everyone turned their attention to Ed, who was twitching his hand again. His head was tilted down, so his hair hid his face in shadows.

"Brother... Are you ok?" Al softly whispered. Ed grunted a little, very slowly lifting his head. Everyone gasped in shock as they saw that his face was sickly pale. His eyes were blood shot, and his trembling body was drenched in sweat. Gritting his teeth, Ed made a hissing noise that blended with a growl.  
Quickly pulling out his gun, he aimed it directly at Edward's head.

"... Please don't hate me for this," Leon said, pulling the trigger as Ed lunged at him.

* * *

Umm... Yes... What Leon said... Don't hate me for this. Eheheheh... sweat drop 


	4. Chapter 4: Upcoming Danger

Wow... A lot of people are probably mad at me for the last chapter... but I think that you all will find something pretty interesting that- OK! I'm shutting up!

Go ahead and read...

* * *

Leon was shocked to see that the bullet was knocked away by a swift arm. He tried to shoot again, but Barry just punched the gun out of his hand. Leon and Al watched as the gun was sent flying across the room, denting the wall as it came in hard contact.  
When they looked back at Barry, they noticed him pinning Edward down on the bench with his large, metal arms. Ed flailed and struggled to get free, snapping at Barry as though thinking he was made of flesh. He clawed at the metal, making a screeching noise with his auto-mail. 

"What the hell do you think you're _doing_?!" Leon shouted in anger. His face turned red as a little but of sweat dripped down his forehead. "You know that we have to kill him! If we don't the-"

"Will you shut the fuck up and listen to me?!" Barry interrupted, struggling to talk to Leon while pinning down Ed at the same time. "I don't think we have a reason to kill him. Because I have-." Suddenly, Barry's arm fell off. He quickly looked down and noticed that Ed clawed it off with his own auto-mail. There was no way to keep him pinned with just one arm.  
With one strong push, Ed managed to break free from Barry. Turning toward Leon, he hissed menacingly and lunged at him, hands tightly gripping his shoulders. Leon was thrusted hard to the ground, feeling the wind get knocked out of him from the hard fall.  
Swiftly lifting his arm up, Leon managed to grab at Ed's neck and keep him from biting any part of his body. The young alchemist squirmed and clawed with his auto-mail arm while his other arm was tightly held by Leon.

"Al, get him off!" Leon managed to yell. There was no response, for Al was too shocked to even move forward. Staring down at the floor, he felt his hands clench into fists.

"AL!!" he yelled again, trying to kick off Edward. The alchemist kept flailing and slashing his auto-mail at him. Cuts and bruises appeared on Leon's sore arm. His grip started to loosen a little, but it remained tight at Ed's neck.

"Fuck! I'll get him off!" Barry growled, pacing towards Leon and Ed. With his good arm, he grabbed Ed by the braid and yanked him upwards until he was a few feet off the ground. He continued to squirm and thrash around, craving to bite into flesh and blood.  
Swinging his arm back, Barry through him hard against the broken cabinet.

"Brother!" Al cried out, rushing towards Ed. He immediately stood up and dashed towards Leon, who was still on the ground. Before he could lunge at him, Al quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back, attempting to hold him back from attacking again.  
Leon quickly stood up and stared at his arm, thankful that the auto-mail couldn't carry the disease. Walking towards Al and Ed, Leon picked up his gun and checked for any damages on it. Luckily, only a small scratch was visible on the side, indicating that there was no serious damage to it.

"Al, I'm sorry... But I _have_ to kill him," he said, aiming the gun at Edward.

"No! No! Wait!" Barry chimed in, grabbing Leon's shoulder. "I don't think we have to kill him. Look what I have!" Removing his hand from his shoulder, Barry revealed what Al and Ed knew as the Philosophers's Stone. Leon gave him a weird look and attempted to grab it, but Barry pulled his arm away before he could reach it.

"What is that thing?" Leon asked, quickly glancing at Ed and Al.

"It's supposed to be the Philosopher's's Stone," Al answered. "But I know it has to be a fake. How could _you_ ever obtain it when you don't know a thing about what it is?"

"Actually, Alphonse, that's where you're wrong," Barry replied. "You didn't know that I was studying about it for quite some time. I was going to use it for my own purposes, whatever I desire most. But, at the moment, I think survival is the most important thing right now, and we need this alchemist to keep us alive. I still remember his skills, like we just fought yesterday... So, I want you to bring him back to his original form." With that said, he reopened his hand and revealed the stone to Al.

"Umm... Hold on, Barry," Al said, shoving Ed against the wall. With one arm thrusted against his stomach, Al reached into his metal armor and picked out a piece of half used chalk. Next to Ed, he started drawing a transmutation circle. It was kind of sloppy since Ed kept on struggling and flailing his arms, but was still able to transmute objects.

"Just hold on, brother," Al told him. "We're going to make you better." Lifting up his free hand, he placed it against the transmutation circle, causing a blue light to shine in a small section of the room. Leon shielded his eyes from the sudden amount of light. Large straps appeared from the wall, wrapping around Edward's body to cease his movements. As the blue light faded, Leon removed his hands from his face and stared at Al and Ed.

"Hand me the stone," Al demanded, extending an arm out towards Barry. He nodded and handed the rare alchemic object to Alphonse. As he turned back towards his older brother, Al could hear Barry choking out such frightening laughs he ever heard.

"Oh, I forgot. There is something we should do before we begin the transmutation," He said, turning towards Leon. Swiftly and smartly as if rehearsed, he snatched the gun from the cop and aimed it directly at Ed.

"I think he must die before we could ever revive him." Pulling the trigger several times, Barry laughed as he saw the blood pour out of Ed. The once infected boy dropped hesitantly to the ground, flat on his stomach.

"DAMN! I wanted to do this for SOOOO LOOOONNNGG!!" Barley roared. His insane laughter made Leon jump a little. He stared at him in disbelief, not exactly sure how to react. The explosions from the gun penetrating Ed's body still buzzed through his head, making his surroundings fuzzy and almost soundless.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Leon screamed, his face going pale. Sweat poured frantically down his face as he forced his eyes upon the corpse of a dead teen. Blood gushed out of the open wounds, forming multiple puddles to stain anything within reach. Leon noticed his regular skin color gather back to Ed's face for a short moment, but then turned back to pale as death drove deeper through his soul.

"Don't get me wrong, fellas," Barry said, waving a hand. "I did this for a great cause. One; it just made my day. Two; this is what has to happen in order to bring him back. See? There is no reason to be mad at me. Just-". A sudden crash echoed in the distance of the room. All attention was turned to the direction of the nuisance. Although he couldn't see or had no proof at the time what made the destruction, Leon had a good guess of what it could have been.  
Barry began to panic about the noise, ignoring the pride he felt from half-murdering the alchemist. Turning towards the door, he bolted out of the room without a word of departure. Leon, about to follow after the psycho, stopped and realized how much he actually didn't care about what happened to Barry, for the only way to destroy him was the same way to destroy Alphonse.

"Leon sir, we have to commence," Al ordered, Dropping the red stone on Ed's body. "I just have a feeling it might be too late if we wait too long." Leon swallowed hard and nodded. He wiped sweat of his face and turned back to face the two brothers.

"Yeah," he managed to choke. "We probably should... Ah, shit! The bastard still has my gun." Al glanced back at Leon, feeling angry at what he said.

"You're more concerned about a gun than a wounded boy?!" Al angrily asked, slightly raising his voice.

"Al, what if a whole group of zombies just waltzed in here? How would I protect us? Your brother would become re-infected and, if i were to die, you wouldn't know what the hell to do. Start thinking, kid." Shaking his head, Leon sank down onto the bench rubbing his forehead. Everything seemed to be falling about in one day. Failure shortly overcame the officer as he thought about Ed being immune to the reviving powers of the stone. Of course, he knew it wouldn't be true.

"Leon, lift his body as I draw the circle around his blood," Al said emotionless. He didn't bother looking up at Leon.

"Fine," he replied back, standing back up from a very short rest. He walked to the dead corpse and peered down at it in disgust, his face contorting at the wounds. He took a quick breath and lifted him up, his clothing immediately becoming soaked in blood. He tried to ignore the warm liquid as he watched Al sketch an alchemic circle around the deformed puddle of blood.  
Another loud crash suddenly echoed through the area, this time closer to the room. Both the males become temporarily distracted from tasks, Leon almost dropping Ed and Al messing up a triangular shape.

"Hurry, Al. Whatever is out there is getting closer, and I really don't want it to find us without any weapons and a defenseless corpse." Al nodded, trying to smudge away the skrew up of the circle. As he fixed his mistake, he rushed through the circle, making more and more mistakes as he panicked.

"Oh! This better do the trick," Al groaned. "You can set him down now." As gently as possible, Leon placed Ed in the center of the circle; directly in the blood puddle. He took one more long look before turning away, drawing in another deep breath.

"Just do it," he said, facing the entrance of the room. Al bent down and placed his hands on the edged of the transmutation circle. Expecting a long-lasting blue glow, Al gasped has the color changed to deathly-red, almost like what happened when they tried to bring their mother back to life.  
Leon couldn't help but spin around to face the unusually color that began to fill the entire room. His eyes widened as Edward disappeared into the light of the event.  
The blinding alchemy eventually faded, leaving dots in Leon's vision for a few seconds. He stared at Al, who was still bent over the alchemy circle. Everything became still and silent, except for the sound of Leon's racing heartbeat. His breathing shortened as he waited for a response.

"He's... Not moving, Leon," Al whimpered. "It didn't work. The circle or stone couldn't do it. I just don't get it. What did we leave out? What?"

"Al, wait! Look," Leon pointed out, pacing next to the suit of armor. He kneeled down equally to his height as he peered into Ed's face. They waited short and patiently until his eyes slowly opened.

"Nn... Nnn..." He moaned as he sat up. "Al, where did you put my coat?" Al gasped happily and hugged his brother, not so tightly so that he wouldn't hurt him.

"Oh, brother! It worked! It worked!" He cheered, brushing his face against his.

"Hey... Hey yeah! I'm not infected or wounded!"

"Wait a minute," Leon interrupted. "If you revived, then why is your arm and leg still like that?" As he pointed this out, Ed pulled up his sleeve and felt his cold auto-mail.

"I guess it could only do this much," he guessed. "I'm alive, you're alive, and Al's alive and that's all the matters... Speaking of _us_, what happened to Barry?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Leon replied. "He ran out of the room afte-". His sentence was cut off but another loud noise. A sudden explosion of glass and wood shattered through the room. Al leaped in front of the two males to protect them from any dangerous objects. Dust swirled around the room, making anything distant too blurry to see. Squinting his eyes for better vision, Ed located what made the destruction in the room. A large man stood at what once was a door way, stiff and soundless.

"Leon, do we know this guy?" Ed asked, bringing an arm up to shield his face.

"Not at all," he replied. "But I don't think he's one of us, if you know what I'm saying." Grabbing a piece of metal, Leon turned to Ed as the dust cleared. He extended an arm out to him, waiting for an acception. Ed did, staring down at it blankly.

"Do you think you can transmute this piece of metal into a gun or weapon of some sort?" Leon asked. " The bastard took my gun when he chickened out from the explosion."

"I guess I can, but you have to supply the bullets. There's not enough metal and elements to transmute any ammunition." Setting the metal on the ground, Ed clapped his hands to together and placed them on the object. A small glow occurred from the alchemy, changing the metal into a hand gun like Leon once had.  
He bent down to pick it up, but a sudden stomping caught his attention. Fixing his gaze on the noise, Ed looked up to see the large man (about 8 feet tall) made his way to the group. His steps were short and slow, but very heavy to shake the ground.  
Leon shook Ed's shoulder, managing to get his attention.

"I'm gonna need the gun," he declared. Ed nodded and picked the newly transmuted weapon. He stood back up and handed the gun to Leon.

"Brother, there's something not right with this guy," Al said, standing in front of them again. Leon just gently armed him to the side.

"Don't forget, I'm the one with the gun," he said, loading two final bullets. Aiming the gun, he waited until the stranger took a few more steps before pulling the trigger twice. The bullets just landed on him like flies on trash. A couple more steps and the man was in arm length of Leon.  
Swiftly, he grabbed as his throat before he had a chance to back up. His grip was extremely tight so he couldn't struggle free. Ed and Al just stared in horror as Leon was lifted several feet off the ground.

* * *

I wish I had a better concluding sentence. Also, I have no idea how this alchemy stuff works, so don't sue me.  
Enjoy this chapter. I will make more hopefully soon! 


	5. Chapter 5: The Beasts Return

A million years have passed and the author finally updates.  
Sorry for the long wait, guys. I've been so lazy with all my stories, so I only made a few sentences a day. Well, I hope you guys aren't too mad at me.

Enjoy!

-Disclaimer: I don't own RE or FMA or any of the characters...

* * *

"Get off of him!" Al fiercely demanded, charging at the inhumane stranger. Bringing his arm back, Al delivered a powerful blow directly to the side of his head. A large, yet bloodless dent showed as evidence that it took some affect. The 8 foot giant was barley able to keep his ground. He teetered to the left in a daze, releasing his firm grip from Leon's neck. After another successful punch, Al managed to knock him away from his comrade, giving Leon time to regain himself.  
His side ached from the sudden impact, but he managed to ignore it. Shaking of the headache and the pain the stranger left on his neck, Leon snatched his new handgun and fired continuously at the off-balanced man. Each bullet stuck to his pale skin for a few seconds, but then dropped to the floor like a dead bug. Not even a wound, nor a drop of blood was spilled out of his body. 

"This type of gun his useless against this guy," Leon declared, staring at Ed in a blaming way. "Do you think you can transmute something bigger and better, like a rocket launcher?"

Ed sighed deeply and scratched his head. "It was the best I could make out of such little elements, and no. I can't at the moment, because like I said, this material isn't enough to make a weapon as such. But I might just might know another way to kill this bastard." With an imagination so strong, it didn't take Ed more than a couple seconds to think of a way to weaken down the stranger.  
He began with what he always did when performing alchemy: clap his hands together. Instead of placing them flat on the floor, he ran up to one of the bookcases that had a better condition than others and slammed them on the side. A brilliant, lightning-blue illumination screened over all the books, catching the man's attention. His blank, yet dazed expression began to change into anger as he made his way over to the elder Elric. Striding with a length that Al couldn't keep up with, he attempted to seize Edward's actions. The man's arm extended to Ed's throat, but didn't make it all the way, for a force thrusted him backwards away in the other direction. The fulmination of the attack that Edward conjured sent the enraged man spiraling to the opposite side of the office, making a startling and loud collision that echoed through the room from the hard contact of the wall. For such a large man who seemed to have the power of snapping a metal pole with ease, the wall still remained incompressible for the most part.

Leon, who was staring in awe at the powerful alchemic attack, noticed what Ed transmuted the books into for launching a powerful attack. Several large spikes, about as large as motorcycle helmets, penetrated the stranger's arms and stomach. Unlike Leon's bullets, the transmuted spikes impaled deep enough so that blood poured out of the newly formed wounds. Crimson liquid rolled down towards the flatter ends of the spikes, droplets detaching itself and making staccato, splashing noises as it hit the ground.  
Al watched as the small drops of blood began to form into puddles that gradually expanded; about 6 inches or less wide.

"See? And you thought we needed a weapon like a rocket launcher to take him out," Edward grinned. "Simple alchemy works just as well, if not, better!"

"_Simple_?!" Leon emphasized, cocking a brow. "You turned a whole pile of useless books into a deadly weapon. I don't know about you , Ed, but to me that really isn't the kind of attack I would see everyday. You really _are_ skilled at alchemy if you could do that and call it 'simple work'."

Edward waved a hand. "Hey hey! It was nothing! I mean, it wasn't really _basic_ alchemy but it wasn't complicated either." Leon smirked and rolled his eyes at Edward's pride. He realized that Ed probably always said that his attacks were 'nothing' when they were actually 'everything' to a lot of people he partnered with. Of course, Ed could be the type that would impress people without even giving much effort into his work, so he couldn't help it if others mistook him as a show off.

"So now that the big cheese is out of the way, how do you suppose we get around the other mice and out of this building?" Ed asked, pointing first at the stranger and then toward the door... Or at least where the door used to be before it was smashed into lesser pieces along with mostly everything else that had been once nicely arranged in the office. Now the room looked, and even smelled like a bunch of twisters fussed about in every inch of directions.  
Leon temporarily ignored the Elric's question as he looked around the room for any hidden or misplaced ammunition. He lifted up the face of a long coffee table, which had a jagged hole towards the left end. All the legs had been smashed off from ruthless collisions, leaving small stumps on all four corners. Carelessly, he shoved it out of his way and allowed the wall to catch and support it to stand in a slanted posture. Surprisingly, the space underneath the wooden surface was quite vacant; only a paper and a piece of fractured wood that was once trapped underneath revealed itself.  
Ed and Al just watched silently and motionless as Leon wondered the room, lifting up unfixable cabinets and other debris scattered through the room. Getting on his knees, he brushed away piles of broken objects and dust, still unable to recover any weapons or ammunition.  
Unsure of what the search was for, Alphonse took a few steps toward Leon and stopped.

"If you're looking for something, tell us what it is and we'll help you find it," he offered, turning to face Ed, who was at this time spacing out, staring ahead at nothing with little emotion on his face- what did show almost looked like an uneasy expression. "Right, brother?" The Elric gave a slight nod, but only in reaction to the questioning sound in Alphonse's voice. Really, he had no clue what his brother had said, and seemed to remain in a thoughtful trance. His facial expression deepened into a dreary state of emotion as he inhaled a sudden gasp. Alphonse wondered what the sudden change in his attitude was about.

"Brother?..." Al, now having his metal body turned back to face the troubled alchemist, rested a gentle hand on his older brother. And just like that, he snapped back into reality, his head shot up to find himself staring at Al, his eyes slightly widened from whatever overcame him.  
Out of the corner of his eye, Leon watched as Ed dug his fingers through his bangs and clutch his head. Leon blinked, confused as to why Ed just started acting strangely. He straightened himself off the ground and onto his feet, pivoting around towards the two brothers.

"Is there something you would like to share with us, Ed?" Leon asked, standing in place. Edward turned to face Leon, noticing how his face almost demanded an answer. "You've given us that look well before we entered the building. It's time you tell us what's been on your mind now, don't you think?" Ed felt both pair of eyes fix their attention on him, knowing he couldn't just remain silent. He opened his mouth to say something, but knew his wording would come out wrong. Instead, he allowed his open mouth to release a long-held sigh.

"Well...," Ed started uneasily. "It's been on my mind ever since we came upon a whole group of the infected. You know... The place where we first met; 3 blocks away from here. Anyway, I was thinking... In a large group like that, we can't tell who could be a survivor or not. It's strange to worry about, but what if we screw something up? What if we already killed someone who didn't deserve it? I mean, I know that nobody deserves to die like this, but..." The thought of ever killing anyone always upsetted Ed, so telling Al this put both of them through pain. Leon, on the other hand, just gave a slight small and shook his head.

"Ed, you shouldn't dwell on these kind of thoughts," he replied confidently. "I suspected that you would have known by now that it wouldn't be your fault if a survivor gets killed because they chose to hide in a group of zombies. It's not as though we can just walk up to each of them and ask if they are all fine and dandy, especially a whole mob of them. Not in this kind of situation. Things aren't going to be that easy; telling the living dead from the real living, and to get through this we have to be strong and make smart choices, even if it means taking a big risk. It's our duty to escort any possible survivors to safety, and that means killing all the infected people who stand in out way. So come on! Show me the brave Elric you told me you were and that I know you are!" Leon grinned and tried to brighten the moods of the brothers. With the words true, how could he fail to bring back the alchemist's spirit? Feeling a wave of bravery and strong attitude wash over them, the two brothers nodded at one another, then at Leon.

"Just now I realized how out of it I was ever since we laid eyes on the city," Ed confessed. "I let the sight of chaos get to me and plant something in my head that later detonated during our first attack. Everything turned into a big haze and it got in the way of how I fought anything that came our way... But..." Pausing, Ed put a hand in his pocket and pulled something glimmering out; his silver pocket watch. "I'm with the military, and as a State Alchemist, the challenges that we face should never stare us down. Endure the pain without protest. Losing someone dear and moving on... I've trained hard and learned the rules of life and Equivalent Exchange. Going back to the beginning can't and won't solve anything, and we all know it too well." A grin of pride ran across Ed's face, and everything that put him out of spirit seemed to blow away.

"Glad to see you're finally well again, brother!" Alphonse said delightfully. "But imagine if Mustang was here with us..." Suddenly, Ed's grin faded, a grimacing look plastered on his face. His eyes went narrow as he stared up at his brother.

"Al, you have really bad timing, you know that?" Ed growled, slumping his shoulders. Alphonse giggled as the annoyed Ed shook his fists in anger.  
As for Leon, his attitude turned back to his usual serious behavior.

"Well, let's push that aside," Leon said, walking toward them both with crossed arms. "I'm searching for some of the ammunition and weapons that people always stashed around rooms incase of an emergency, but I would imagine that it all got knocked around when Big-and-Bad came bursting through the room."

"Che. Why are you worried about _finding _things when I can just transmute all that crap?" Ed emphasized, giving the 'DUH' look.

"Well, be my guest if that's what you want to do," Leon replied, giving his hand a small toss that directed toward a small pile of metal. "It'll save us a heap of time." The Elric nodded once and knelt down infront of the metal, clapping his hands together. The same blue alchemic glow filled the room as the metal scraps took shape into a gun, hidden in the brightest part of the performance. Just a few seconds pass and the weapon is complete, having an identical look like the last one he transmuted during the attack.  
Picking it up, he examined it as he noticed he couldn't transmute bullets along with it.

"You may have to supply your own bullets for now," Ed stated, tossing the gun to Leon, who successfully caught it in one hand. "Think you'll be fine?"

"Well, I have enough to kill about 30 of whatever comes our way, which really wouldn't do me any good if we were to be ambushed by a whole party of them or if it was something like the Licker or the guy we just killed," he replied, stuffing the hand gun in his free pocket. "But, yeah. I'll be fine if that doesn't happen. Let's get going before we get caught off guard by anyone... Or anything." Ed and Al nodded, letting Leon lead first out the door. Cautiously, he glanced both ways before making a left; the opposite way they came down from. The two brothers followed close behind, both side-by-side.  
Surprisingly the hallway wasn't too out of shape- compared to Leon's office and the room they just came from it wasn't. A few blood puddles and glass shards filled mostly in the middle. Consecutive drops of crimson liquid dripped from the ceiling, supposivly from the Licker after eating a meal. The walls had it worse than the floor and ceiling. A large cracked streaked across the concrete as though it were continuously punched about. Bloody handprints were smeared lengthily after a long struggle, although there were no bodies to prove it.  
Other than glass, there appeared to be no other debris in the long hallway.

"So much blood," Ed pointed out. "Can one of those things really do all this?"

"It's possible, but not here. Notice the number of footprints smudged along the floor," Leon replied, looking at print as he passed by.

"Four, five, or six of them must have came through this hallway," Al said. "Plus the mutated toad coming down here after the infected had their way with whoever or whatever they ran into."

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "That explains why we can't see the bodies. The thing dragged them off somewhere to... Ick! Feast on whatever remained of the victim." Even Leon had to cringe at the thought of a fraction of someone's corpse being eaten, and the rest just left as scraps for the next thing that comes along.

"How can a disease turn someone into something so twisted?" Ed grimaced, crossing his arms. "Leon, do you know who could have done this, or how the disease spread through a whole town?"

"Ed, there are so many rumors I've read about from journals and heard about from other policemen and witnesses, I don't know what to believe!" he declared, giving a small shrug. "But the most frequent story I heard from the citizens was that this whole incident was no accident, and the motivation of that someone was to get revenge on the city. No one said why that person felt the city had done something to them, but whoever supplied the virus is anonymous and could have already escaped before the disease got out of control."

"If this is all true," Al added. "Then the suspect might be trying to carry the virus through neighboring towns and cities. But out of what circumstances?"

"Yes, _if_ it was true, but as it stands right now, the evidence isn't strong enough to provide enough answers for a brief understanding. For all I know, people could have been copying and pasting things together and called it 'the true story'."

"But suppose it wasn't an accident," Ed started. "Did anyone tell you or did you read anything about something occurring in, for example, a science lab of antidotes and medicines?" Suddenly, Leon's paced slowed down until he completely stopped walking. The Elrics, who are a foot behind him, halted as well.

"Now that you mention it, I don't even recall hearing such a story that dealt with accidents in a lab. The only accident story I heard was that an animal from the wild invaded the city on a killing rampage, and it supposively was carrying with it a new disease it obtained at birth. It doesn't sound unlikely for that to happen, but there was no evidence of the creature ever arriving; no pictures, no description of what it looked like, and no information on any disease like this that could be carried from an animal at birth. Almost as though a new species came to be on our planet. But my fingertips are holding on to the concept of a science experiment." Again, he started walking as Ed listened carefully to Leon's story, taking in every detail. Hazy ideas formed in his head, but nothing could come together as one conclusive story. He thought hard about such an animal that could carry a disease so demented and chaotic.

"_A new species... Disease at birth... Could it be...-_" His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a startling crash that nearly shook the hallway. His head jolted up as he listened for any other disturbances. He tried not to avert his gaze from the direction the loud noise occurred, but he felt a sudden presence that made him turn around and stare out through the hallway. Holding his breath, Ed listened and watched carefully if anything was pursuing them. He remained motionless as 10 seconds passed by slowly. Realizing there was nothing behind him, he released his breath at once and spun around to find his brother and ally out of sight.

"Crap!" he growled, cursing himself for being unaware that Al and Leon didn't stop and wait. Jogging down the hallway, he came to a point where the straight path ended and the only way he could go was by making a left. Turning the corner, he hoped to reunite himself with the two males. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, what he witnessed completely froze him in horror and disgust. He tried to close his eyes to block out the terrible image, but they were glued almost addictivley. He began to let out a scream, but a hand clamped his mouth shut before he could make any noises while another larger hand pulled him backwards away from the horrific sight.

"Ed!" Leon and Al whispered sharply, trying to get the attention of the thrashing teen. Thankfully, Ed recognized the voices before he could scream or make any loud noises, or even harm his partner. He calmed down immediately, letting out a sigh of relief that he wasn't being ambushed.  
Before Ed could scowled them for not waiting, Leon stepped in front of the two brothers with a gun in both hands, his back turned to them. He remained still, almost statue-like as he kept his attention on any noises.

"Ed, what did you see when you turned the corner?" Al whispered in his brother's ear. Ed shuttered as the image came back to his mind, playing over and over again like a broken video.

"The Licker... No. It wasn't just one of them. There were 5 Lickers- slightly larger than the one that attacked us in Leon's office. But that's not the scary part of it, Al..." His voice trailed off as they heard silent taps that came from around the corner. Growling and hissing seemed to drown out the taps.  
Suddenly, Leon quickly spun around to face Edward and Alphonse, seeing that their startled expression meant that they also knew that it would be too dangerous to stay and fight the beasts.

"Get back into the room!" Leon exclaimed, not bothering to keep his voice low, for the mutated beasts already knew they were there. All three turned and ran the opposite way as the pitter-patter of footsteps grew louder. Unfortunately, Ed thought Leon meant the room all the way down the hall and didn't know about the second door that Leon and Al found when he was turned back out of distraction. Instead of going through the door with the other two, he continued sprinting down the hallway. He glanced back, thankful that the beasts were still crawling on all four instead of hopping around, but noticed that Leon and Al were nowhere in sight and that only 3 were following. As for the other two beasts, Ed knew that they were in combat with his brother and partner inside of the room he was too panic-stricken to notice.

"Al!!" He cried out, slamming his feet on the ground, bringing him to a stop. His body turned to face the Lickers, who were still a good 10 feet away and still moving at a steady pace. Looking past the beasts, Ed couldn't see his brother or Leon to be anywhere in his gaze, but heard gun shots and loud hissing. He furrowed his eyes in anger, gritting his teeth.  
Clapping his hands together and placing his left over his metal one, he transmuted his usual hand blade and charged forth at the Lickers. The beasts accepted the challenged and, with powerful legs, sprang toward the enraged teen.  
The fight commenced between the State Alchemist and the mutated toads; unfortunately, a 3 on 1 that would take more than luck to win.

-

* * *

I don't know about you guys, but, in my opinion, this chapter just didn't please me. I'm seriously trailing off and off and off and going out of character. Not to mention the corny ideas.  
So if anyone can give me any pointers or ideas... Ehem... you know who you are -smile- -smile- smile- -nudge-... Then please!!! Give me anything you got! Otherwise this story is going to end up with Spongebob somehow coming into play... Thaaaankssszzzz... 


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